Money/Assets/Property that is earned through unethical sources is
called ?

Money that is earned through bad sources like corrupted politics, corrupted business, ransom money, stolen or theft money. What is such money called?
Is it bad money, black money. What is one particular name for it?

Well, how about a suggestion for adding more to this answer: it's worth noting that the process of getting rid of dirty money to get money that is more safely usable is called money laundering, literally cleaning the money.
– KRyanJul 13 '14 at 15:42

4

@tchrist While I agree with your comment, I feel compelled to point out that your first sentence, as written, might be read by a user unfamiliar with this site's policies as contradicting your second. You should clarify that the reason why pure-citation answers are inappropriate for a question-and-answer site is that they don't add value that distinguishes us from a commonly-available reference, and thereby reduces the utility of the site as a source of information not available in those sources.
– user867Jul 15 '14 at 1:51

13

This answers the question perfectly. No commentary is necessary.
– KikJul 15 '14 at 13:05

1

Regarding "laundering" of dirty money, it is the passing of money gained through illicit means through banks, services, and asset purchases to confuse attempts to trace a particular bit of cash or an asset back to the original crime. Laundered money is still technically an illicit gain, but after enough scrubbing, might not be legally seizable.
– Phil PerryJul 15 '14 at 15:06

@EdwinAshworth - Hi Edwin, what did you have for breakfast this morning?
– user66974Apr 7 '16 at 11:35

I've never heard of dirty money as necessarily having previous criminal owners. Ill-gotten gains is certainly a good suggestion, but I don't think your distinction holds.
– KRyanJul 13 '14 at 15:43

4

I agree that ill-gotten gains would be an odd choice to call money you didn't gain yourself through ill means. But I don't think anyone would find it odd to call money you got from a bank heist dirty money.
– KRyanJul 13 '14 at 16:34

If I were answering this question, I'd have answered with "Ill gotten gains" but when I saw "dirty money", I immediately thought that was also an excellent answer. As to the distinction made by Fumble, I can see his point, but I'm not sure the distinction is always there. However; there are certainly times, where "dirty money" fits much better than "Ill.." as Fumble himself points out. +1
– TecBratJul 14 '14 at 15:54

1

@TecBrat: Once again, I am not claiming my distinction is "always there". I'm saying that to the extent anyone might ever wish to assign the two different terms to money which passes through the hands of numerous different people engaged in a chain of immoral activity on the one hand, and money improperly acquired by one person through an activity that's not part of such a chain, I think it's reasonable to assume most people would assign the two terms the way I have.
– FumbleFingersJul 14 '14 at 16:25

Lucre itself has taken on the shameful meaning imparted to it originally by the adjective filthy:

Word History: When William Tyndale translated aiskhron kerdos, "shameful gain" (Titus 1:11), as filthy lucre in his edition of the Bible, he was tarring the word lucre for the rest of its existence. But we cannot lay the pejorative sense of lucre completely at Tyndale's door. He was merely a link, albeit a strong one, in a process that had begun long before with respect to the ancestor of our word, the Latin word lucrum, "material gain, profit." This process was probably controlled by the inevitable conjunction of profit, especially monetary profit, with evils such as greed. In Latin lucrum also meant "avarice," and in Middle English lucre, besides meaning "monetary gain, profit," meant "illicit gain." (See The Free Dictionary: lucre.)

I've never heard filthy lucre used to mean ill-gotten gains. I've only ever heard it used in the sense that lucre is inherently filthy, with filthy redundantly appearing in order to allude to the saying, "money is the root of all evil." Interesting how connotations change or get lost.
– SevenSidedDieJul 16 '14 at 5:31

In addition to loot and booty, which are limited, and dirty money, which is quite general, I would offer up the more specific blood money.

Loot and booty are more specifically for theft or ransacking of a national treasure, such as a tomb filled with gold. Dirty money is quite general and can be used for any illegally or unethically acquired gain.

Blood money is used to describe a situation where one party gains financially at the detriment or even death of another. The winning party then gives money to the hurt party or the next of kin.

In more casual use, I have heard people referring to any money gained through murder or other violent acts as blood money. For example, someone might say that

The mafia family built their inheritance on blood money.

A similar term is blood diamond. Its use is reserved for diamonds that were acquired through violence or harsh mining conditions. Considering that use, with some creativity in the situation, you might prepend any item of value with the word blood to give your audience the impression of acquiring the asset through violence or other dubious means. Jokingly, you could say

John's promotion was a blood promotion, because he was ruthless in acquiring it.

Other cultures use the term more specifically and even legally. Westernized cultures use it loosely and never legally, as far as I know.

By the same logic and specificity, drug money is equally self evident. Blood money however does have usage outside of its literal meaning, which in my experience drug money lacks - it is more restricted in this sense.
– naughtilusJul 15 '14 at 13:02

1

Blood money is also used in societies that have the option of a victim or victims family receiving payment in lieu of other punishments.
– NeuromancerJul 15 '14 at 15:52

Booty seems a good all-purpose term for any sort of unearned gain, from war-looting to lottery-wins. Except for the fact that the gang of idiots formerly known as the human race decided to use the word for sexual purposes. Idiots. Blood money, aside from being two words, suggests mostly extreme cases, especially The Merchant of Venice...
– KibitzologistSep 29 '14 at 3:35

@Kibitzologist Whatever the meaning, I wouldn't mind a healthy share of some booty.
– fredsbendSep 29 '14 at 4:12

Two terms used in British law are "immoral earnings" and "the proceeds of crime". The former refers specifically to money made through prostitution; the second to any material profit from criminal activity.

Note that since income from prostitution is taxable then HRMC can be called to task for having income from immoral earnings but personally I would say the two terms have a one to one mapping with parliamentary salary and parliamentary expenses.
– Steve BarnesJul 16 '14 at 20:23

both of those words have completely different meanings now in the mainstream public. Loot is just a synonym for any money ("I'm out getting my loot") and, well, booty has a different more common meaning to the masses as well.
– stephenbayerJul 14 '14 at 22:32

no Loot is specifically things obtained by physically stealing during wars or other civil disturbances.
– NeuromancerJul 15 '14 at 15:54

@stephenbayer A dual meaning used to advantage by Sara Lorimer in her book Booty: Girl Pirates on the High Seas.
– Spehro PefhanyJul 15 '14 at 19:59

You and I against the world, Richard! PS: Shake your moneymaker!! =]
– KibitzologistSep 29 '14 at 3:42

Personally I would say "MPs Income" - but seriously I would say "Illegitimate Income" - i.e. any income from sources that are not those that are Legitimate. The other phrase that is often used is "under the counter".

The price paid for wrongdoing seems rather enticing. The violators are almost encouraged to violate the law because the penalty is so small. The evil-gotten gains are expansive. The sanctions are minuscular.

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